- Jazz center Walker Kessler is out at least two weeks with an elbow injury. Instead of replacing him with another big man, head coach Will Hardy decided to make a couple changes to the team’s starting lineup on Wednesday vs. Indiana. Rookie Keyonte George replaced Talen Horton-Tucker at point guard, while second-year wing Ochai Agbaji started at small forward, as Sarah Todd of The Deseret News relays. “Keyonte has played really well,” Hardy said. “I think he’s shown a very quick learning curve on both ends of the floor.” Jordan Clarkson remained the starting shooting guard, with Lauri Markkanen (power forward) and John Collins (center) each sliding up a spot in the frontcourt.
Second-year center Walker Kessler suffered a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the Jazz announced in a press release.
According to the Jazz, Kessler initially sustained the injury during the team’s season opener on October 25. However, the injury wasn’t formally diagnosed until recently, when the 22-year-old underwent an MRI. He had been playing through discomfort the past couple weeks.
While it’s obviously unfortunate that Kessler was injured, it doesn’t sound like the UCL sprain will require surgery. The 7’1″ big man will be resting and participating in non-contact activities over the next two weeks in order to facilitate his recovery process, per the team.
Tony Jones of The Athletic first reported that Kessler would likely be out multiple games with an elbow injury.
Kessler, the 22nd overall pick in 2022, was an All-Rookie First Team selection in 2022/23 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 9.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 2.3 BPG while shooting 72.0% from the field across 74 games (40 starts, 23.0 MPG). He was particularly effective in the second half of last season once he became Utah’s full-time starting center, averaging 11.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 2.9 BPG in 34 games (29.0 MPG).
The Jazz have gotten off to a slow start in 2023/24, currently sitting with a 2-6 record. Kessler’s numbers are down compared to his rookie season as well — he has averaged 8.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 2.1 BPG while shooting 54.9% from the floor through eight games (24.0 MPG). Obviously, the elbow injury may have been negatively impacting his performance.
With Kessler sidelined for at least the next seven games, frontcourt players like Kelly Olynyk, Omer Yurtseven and Luka Samanic figure to move up on the depth chart.
After earning the starting point guard job in the preseason, Talen Horton-Tucker has received some criticism for his part in the Jazz‘s slow start this season, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Horton-Tucker is shooting a career-worst 38.8% from the field, while his 2.3 turnovers per game would be a career high.
In a conversation with Larsen, Horton-Tucker noted that, at age 22, he’s the same age as second-year wing Ochai Agbaji, so he believes he has “the opportunity to only get better.” He also pointed out that it’s his first time playing point guard on a full-time basis.
“I feel like people should be believing in me,” Horton-Tucker said. “I know I take some shots sometimes that are, like, different. It’s one thing that we always talk about: All the shots that I shoot in the games are shots that my coaches and teammates have seen me make. So it’s not coming from a place where it’s forced or — it’s not like, you know, selfish.
“So I’m just really trying to get everybody understand to me a little bit more, to know that anything that I do is never coming from a selfish place. I’m trying to get better, get my teammates better, get in communication with everybody, and just try to get it right on the court. Being an extension of [head coach Will Hardy], is another thing I’ve been trying to do lately.”
Horton-Tucker is on an expiring $11MM contract and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2024 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Here’s more out of Utah:
- Jazz center Walker Kessler hasn’t yet been officially ruled out for Wednesday’s game in Indianapolis – he’s listed as doubtful – but Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link) suggests Kessler’s left elbow sprain is an injury that may cost him multiple games. While it’s not expected to be a long-term issue, Utah will likely have to replace Kessler in its starting lineup in the short term, Jones adds.
- Collin Sexton is adjusting to a new role early in the season as the Jazz continue to experiment with their backcourt combinations, says Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. Rather than leaning on him for ball-handling and play-making, the team is asking Sexton to play more off the ball and to not hesitate to shoot corner threes or attack the basket when he gets the chance. “Our roster has a lot of capable guards in bringing it up the floor, and so we tried to shift Collin’s mindset the last (few) games in terms of, ‘Let’s get you off the ball,’ because we think that’s best for him, and ultimately that will help the team,” head coach Will Hardy said. “And he’s responded really, really well.”
- One of the reasons the Jazz’s defense has been so poor so far this season is a lack of communication on the court and during timeouts, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, who suggests that the team has been without a vocal leader since Mike Conley‘s departure last season. “It’s hard. There’s part of it that’s like, who’s gonna talk?” Hardy said. “With a new group, who is the leader? Who are we looking at? And sometimes everybody’s just kind of looking at each other like, ‘Are you gonna say it or am I gonna say it?'”
- The Jazz have the league’s worst half-court defense in the early going and the Salt Lake Tribune’s Andy Larsen opines that the players simply aren’t taking enough pride at that end of the floor. The Jazz allowed 123 points in just 95 Minnesota possessions on Saturday. “We’ve got way too many moments where we’re not doing a good job on the ball. We’re not doing a very good job with secondary defenders. The activity has been pretty lackluster in general,” coach Will Hardy said.
The Grade 3 ankle strain Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. incurred heading into the 2023/24 season remains an issue. Ported admits that his ankle is still less than 100% healed, estimating its recovery level at 75%, tweets Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. The 6’10” vet notes that he is dogged by soreness following games, but adds that it continues to improve.
Porter has remained productive regardless of his ankle’s health, averaging 15.0 PPG on .460/.380/.857 shooting. He’s also contributing 7.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.9 BPG and 0.6 SPG.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Trail Blazers rookie power forward Toumani Camara is emerging as a rotation staple at this early point of the season. Camara even started in the second half of Portland’s Friday win ahead of Matisse Thybulle, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets.
- Following a 115-113 loss to the Magic Thursday, second-year Jazz center Walker Kessler addressed his disappointing start to the season, Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune reports. His numbers are down across the board from an All-Rookie 2022/23 campaign, and he’s struggling to control the ball as well as he did last year. “Yeah, you know, I think I gotta get back to just having fun,” Kessler said in addressing how he hopes to bounce back. “Because at the end of the day, it is a game. I’ve got to have fun competing and playing with my teammates and enjoy that, because that’s when I have my most productive games — when I’m trying to win and trying to have fun.”
- Warriors star forward Draymond Green was impressed by rookie Thunder center Chet Holmgren during Golden State’s 141-139 last-second win over Oklahoma City, writes Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Chet’s a problem,” Green said. “He can play. He can dribble the ball, he can shoot the ball, has great length, is a great shot blocker. He’s only going to get better. For a young guy like that to have the feel that he has, you don’t see many mistakes out of him. And I thought that was big.” Through six games, the seven-footer is averaging 17.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.3 BPG and 1.0 SPG.
Neither Taylor Hendricks nor Brice Sensabaugh, the Nos. 9 and 28 overall picks in the 2023 draft, are in the Jazz rotation to begin the season. Instead, the duo will begin the year by practicing with Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, in training camp, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Larsen points out that fellow rookie Keyonte George, drafted after Hendricks with the No. 16 overall pick, has been a regular contributor. While Larsen notes that several former rookies who didn’t play much early in their careers went on to find success, it’s clear the Jazz don’t believe Hendricks is ready to contribute at the NBA level right now. Participating in G League training camp will give both rookies ample practice time.
“You want young players to get reps, and live reps against good players. Once our season gets going, the amount of practice time shrinks considerably,” head coach Will Hardy said. “They practiced today for two and a half hours. We did not have a two-and-a-half-hour live shootaround this morning.”
For what it’s worth, both Hendricks and Sensabaugh are appreciating the opportunity for more practice time, according to Larsen.
“We’re seeing younger and younger players come into the NBA,” Hardy said. “Eight years ago, it wasn’t like you were drafting three 19-year-olds in the same draft. We’re just trying to get those guys as many reps as we can until they’re in a position to play enough minutes with our group every night that it would be overkill to send them there. Both those guys understand that this is the opposite of punishment.”
We have more Northwest Division notes:
- The Jazz are also taking a patient approach with fellow rookie George, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones, and he partially holds the keys to Utah’s future. The guard had a dominant Summer League and training camp, but Utah is being cautious and won’t put too much on his plate too soon. Jones writes that George has the highest natural instincts for the point guard position of anyone on the roster and that it’s difficult to envision a scenario where he isn’t the starting point guard by next season.
- The Thunder assigned Jaylin Williams to their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, on Wednesday, according to Rylan Stiles (Twitter link). This was part of Williams’ ramp-up to play, as he’s been dealing with a hamstring injury. Oklahoma City recalled Williams later on Wednesday (Twitter link).
- The transition from last season to this one has been seamless for the Nuggets‘ bench so far despite losing players like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, according to The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. Denver’s bench, consisting primarily of Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji, outscored opposing bench players 132-105 through its first four games, shooting 50.5% from the field and holding opponents to 38.3% shooting from the floor. That group, along with Jamal Murray, boasts a defensive rating of 83.6. “Anyone can go off any night,” Nnaji said.
- Jazz rookie Keyonte George is getting acclimated to the NBA game, including back-to-backs. He admitted he was “gassed” after playing on consecutive nights, he told Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. “I’m honest with myself and yeah, I was kind of gassed,” George said. “So now that tells me I’ve gotta get more into shape…(Coach Will Hardy) wants us to play extremely hard but the goal is to not be tired. If you’re not tired, you don’t come out of the game and you can impact winning.” The 16th pick of the draft is averaging 19.3 minutes per game.
- Two of the Jazz‘s major weaknesses – subpar guard play and defense – have been on display in the early going this season, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. One bright spot, Larsen writes, has been the play of rookie guard Keyonte George, who increasingly looks like he can play a major role on this team.
Last season changed dramatically for Russell Westbrook when he landed with the Clippers, and he’s grateful to the Jazz for the role they played in making it happen, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Westbrook spent 12 days on Utah’s roster in February after a trade that ended his embattled relationship with the Lakers. The veteran guard agreed to a buyout when the opportunity with the Clippers arose, but he said he was willing to stay with the Jazz and help the team in any way he could.
“I would have come in and did whatever they asked me to do,” Westbrook said. “I told them I could be a mentor. Whatever I needed to do to help, I would have done it. Like always I do whatever is best for the team. If that’s to come and sit my ass there in street clothes and make sure I help the young guys, I’ll do that.”
Westbrook never left Los Angeles after the trade, Greif adds, but he talked to members of Utah’s coaching staff and front office, along with former teammates, as he considered the possibility of playing for the Jazz. Greif points out that Westbrook wanted to be with a contender, and Utah couldn’t offer that or a guaranteed spot in the rotation. However, team officials told Westbrook they would welcome him if he decided to finish the season there.
“I just wanted to make sure that he knew how much I respect him as a player,” head coach Will Hardy said. “And that whatever the decision ends up being, that he’s always welcome here with me. I’ve had a lot of respect for him for a long time. I’ve been on staffs in San Antonio in particular where we played Oklahoma City in the playoffs a lot, so I’ve seen Russell up close and personal. You know, his reputation speaks for itself.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Hardy abandoned his four-guard experiment after just one game, observes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. With an abundance of guards worthy of playing time, Hardy used four of them together with one big man at times on opening night, but he never had more than three guards on the court at one time on Friday as the Jazz defeated the Clippers. “The speed of the smaller lineup feels good and looks good in practice, because there’s times where you’re like, ‘Man, they’re really moving and they’re pressuring the ball!’ And then you get in a game and it’s not quite the same,” Hardy said. “You find out, ‘Man, we didn’t rebound well, and offensively it was just OK.’”
- There was speculation that Justin Holiday might see rotation minutes with the Nuggets, but it doesn’t appear like it’s going to happen right away, tweets Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “It’s great to have guys like Justin, guys like DeAndre (Jordan), who understand that right now we’re gonna play our young guys,” coach Michael Malone said. “And they’re gonna stay ready and be pros while awaiting their opportunity.”
- Rudy Gobert claims to be in the best shape of his career as he enters his second season with the Timberwolves, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Jazz head coach Will Hardy says Lauri Markkanen will have a difficult year, as the All-Star forward’s breakout season in 2022/23 has made him a “marked man” on opposing teams’ scouting reports, not to mention he’ll face increased scrutiny because of elevated expectations. However, Hardy is confident he’ll handle the extra attention well, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “Yeah, I mean, they started making changes obviously during the last year, too. And we kind of knew what was going to come, so no surprises there,” Markkanen said after Wednesday’s loss to Sacramento. “But I think that’s a good challenge for me. I’m not gonna put my head down if I make a mistake or whatever. I’m here to get better every day.”
- Kris Dunn recently had his contract for 2023/24 guaranteed by the Jazz, and he says he’s “super grateful for the opportunity” after dealing with injuries the past handful of seasons and working his way back to the NBA by playing in the G League for most of 2022/23, as Sarah Todd of The Deseret News details. “I fell in love with the game even more,” Dunn said of his time with the Capital City Go-Go. “When you’re down and out, you’ve got to find a way to really battle through and I just really, really worked on my fundamentals and tried to develop my game so that when the shot did come and present itself, I was ready.”